Hunted
by Imagination Domination
Summary: Keira the Lucario is special. After being discovered by humans, she has been hunted and on the run. But when she discovers the Hunter's true purpose, she must team up with her friends to save eveything she knows. And more. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**This is my first fanfic ever. Ever. And it might not be well-written. And stuff. So don't judge this one too much, it'll get better in time. Imagination Domination out! : D**

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Chapter One

The forest was almost completely silent, save the pounding of human boots on the fallen leaves and branches. I ran as quietly as I could. If the Hunters found me, I'd be dead meat. Soon, I was way ahead of them. I've probably only got sixty seconds before they catch up, I thought. I looked around, but there wasn't any decent hiding space.

Fifty-five seconds.

Then I saw the vines and enormous elephant ear leaves, though they were on a small plant. I grabbed the leaves and vines.

Fifty seconds. Hushed voices and the sound of leaves being crushed reached my ears.

While tying the vines and leaves together, I shot a quick look behind me. Nothing. They had made a turn and were now coming towards my left. I tied faster.

Forty seconds.

Finished with my camouflage, I sized up the little elephant ear plant. Maybe it was just large enough to fit the uncovered side of me in...

Thirty seconds...

I squatted down and tied the leaf-vine around me so the leaves covered my entire back. I climbed into the puny plant.

Twenty-five seconds.

I was ready. They wouldn't be able to see me. I hoped.

Ten seconds.

I shut my eyes, trying to make sure there was no trace of me visible through the little spaces in the plant.

Five seconds.

Then I remembered my tail, sitting out there in open moonlight. In panic, I reached back and grabbed it. I held it to my chest and sat still as the Hunters came into my little clearing.

"Shoot, we've lost it. Any signs on radar?" came a low, grainy voice I recognized as the Leader's.

"No trace of life here," a slightly high-pitched voice sounded. Their little technology geek. The Leader cursed under his breath.

"Tracker, check the floor for any, and I mean ANY, trace that its been here."

"Uh... None. No footprints, nothing," went a nervous man. I didn't even need to search his emotions to know he was afraid of the Leader's reaction.

Sure enough, the Leader cursed and said, "You are FIRED!!!" Ha, that's the fourth one this week, I thought happily. But then my mood vanished when the Leader ordered the five agents to go out and search for me. I stiffened as they ran out in all directions. Minutes passed, and no one looked into my plant. But then a little agent, shorter than I was, walked with caution towards me. I didn't understand his fear until I glanced down and saw that my vine looked eerily like poison ivy. But the little man walked back and waited for the others. None found me. The Leader, once again, bellowed curses.

"Er, I don't think its here anymore. Maybe we ought to go search somewhere else," said a voice I didn't recognize.

"Well that's obvious now, isn't it? Move out!" the Leader said with anger filling his voice.

I waited for a few more minutes to make sure those arrogant Hunters didn't double back. Eventually, I got out and ripped the leaves off. I was totally stiff. This wasn't a very good place to stay, especially for me. But I couldn't risk going out and exploring, partly because of the Hunters, and partly because I could hardly walk. So, I sort of waddled around until I found a hole underneath a tree. It was just big enough for me to crawl into and curl up. Not very comfortable, but good enough. I found I was exhausted, and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: OK, um, my computer is going insane, so I'm not totally sure if this chapter is going to come up in the right place. Well, if it did work, then yay! Here it is!

Chapter Two

"Hello? Are you awake?" asked a voice somewhere above me. I attempted to grab the edge of my hole and pull myself out, but I found that my body was extremely sore from sleeping all curled up.

"Oh, please don't be dead... Please wake up. Well, unless you are actually dead, that would be pretty scary," continued whoever had found me. I moaned in reply.

"That doesn't actually prove you're not a zombie, since zombies can probably moan too," said the voice. This was frustrating.

"I'm not dead. I'm fine. Just tired," I said.

"Oh! Good! Um, do you need help getting out of that hole?"

"I think I can get out," I answered while attempting to pull myself out. That didn't work.

"Here, lemme help," and a tiny hand grabbed my right paw and began tugging at it. When the little creature pulled me out to my head, I opened my eyes to see that my new friend was a... Lizard?

"Hi! Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Kevin! Hey, aren't you a Lucario?" asked Kevin. I nodded. "Cool! I've never met a Lucario before!" he said happily. I continued struggling to get out from underneath the tree. I had gotten my left arm out when Kevin said, "Do you need some more help? Because I can use Scratch to get rid of some of those roots around the edge of your hole," he said.

"Please do," I said groggily, just realizing he was a Treecko. Stupid mornings. I was never an early bird, and being stiff didn't help much. Well, Kevin started clawing away most of the surrounding roots keeping me stuck, and he would hit me occasionally and would follow with an, "Oops, my bad!" After a while, I was completely free and sitting by the tree.

"So, why were you inside that tiny place anyways?" he asked me. Well, I wasn't about to tell him I was being hunted. Nobody even knew what the Hunters were.

"I just needed a place to sleep, you know," I replied.

He nodded and said, "You seem kinda drowsy. Want something to wake ya up?" And he climbed up a tree. I just sat there, having no idea what was going on. Then the kid jumped out of the tree a foot away from me holding a big, yellow, oval-shaped berry. He tossed it to me and said, "My treat! Oh, there weren't any Chestos around so you'll just have to eat this one." I took a bite and immediately wished I hadn't. "Oh, yeah, that's a Nomel berry, real sour. But it gets sweeter, trust me," he told me with a smile. Well, I was wide awake now, and that berry actually tasted sweet after the initial burn-your-mouth sour. "Now that I'm sure you won't fall asleep anytime soon, what's your name?" he asked me.

"My name's Keira. Nice to meet you," I smiled and shook his hand.

"Cool name. Never heard it before," he answered while staring into space. He began pacing. "Anyways, are you a traveler?" he asked. I was surprised that he wanted to know something like that.

"Er, yes," I replied.

"So on your own, all the time?" he continued questioning me. I nodded. "Wow, that sounds like a ton of fun," he mumbled and sat down again, cross-legged this time. "Where are you headed?"

"Well, I'm not really going anywhere. I just try to stay away from Trainers. They think Lucarios are really rare, and I don't want to be caught, so I just go from place to place," I answered.

"Awesome! So you can go any place you want to?" he wanted to know.

"Yep!" I said with a smile. Then my new friend got up to his feet once more.

"Hey, well, if you need a place to stay, you can stay with me and my family. I'm sure they would like ya!" he assured me. I got to my feet as well. Then Kevin's face lit up. "Didn't you say you needed a place to sleep?" I nodded. He continued, "Couldn't you come stay with us for a while? I'm sure it beats sleeping in a...," he looked at the hole. "Well, a hole. So why don't you come with me?"

I tensed up. "I... I don't think your family would like me much."

He was confused. "Why not?"

"Because.... Of this," I muttered. I shook all the dirt off myself, and then stretched. Arms, legs, tail, neck... Wings. I opened my eyes to watch his reaction. The usual response was calling me a freak of nature, screaming, or silently walking away in fear. Kevin stared for a moment. And then...

"WHOA!! That's awesome!"

My reaction: What?!? But I didn't say that out loud.

Anyway, Kevin raced around me to get a better look at my outstretched wings. "How did I not notice these before?!?" he shouted.

"Probably because they were coated in dirt, and were crushed against my back," I told him. He continued to stand, in awe, behind me. It finally got to the point that it was awkward. But then he piped up again.

"Can ya fly with em?"

"Yeah," I said. I was still shocked at his un-freaked out response.

"How didja get these?!?" Kevin questioned me excitedly.

"It's a long story," I mumbled. He went around me and sat down.

"I have time."

I sighed and leaned against a tree, being careful not to crush my wings again.

"Well, pretty far back in my family tree, I had a Pidgeot as one of my ancestors. There was a Pidgeot ancestor on both of my parents sides. And somehow, the two nearly nonexistent Pidgeot traits were put together. But since both my parents were Lucario, I couldn't be anything besides a Lucario. So the trait became wings instead." I looked up to see If Kevin was listening.

He was sitting there silently for a few moments, but then he said, "That wasn't too long of a story. But I still don't understand, why do you think my family won't like you?"

"First of all, see, I'm a Flying type too, because of the wings. And you're all Grass type, and those two don't really mix. Second, I don't usually get the positive reaction like you had. Its usually a freak-of-nature-slash-walk-away-silently kind of reaction," I replied.

"Oh. But what If I go out first and ask the Chief If its ok for you to stay?" he asked. I didn't know how to respond to that. Why had I told this Treecko, whom I haven't known for more than ten minutes? I asked myself. This kid was the first friend I had made since I left my family, I thought to myself, and also the first one to know about my 'special difference.' But I didn't want to put him in danger by possibly leading the Hunters to his home...

"Come on, Keira, why not?" he pleaded. I thought for a few more moments, glanced at the hole, and then said,

"Alright."

He jumped up in glee. "Ok! C'mon!" he said while running out ahead and motioning for me to follow. I sighed and chased after my new little friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

**Reviews=Me putting up next chapter faster! Review!**

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Chapter 3

The first thing I knew about Kevin was that he loved asking questions. Before we had even made it a quarter of the way to his home, Kevin knew everything there was to know about me. And him? The only things I could get him to answer before he popped another question was that he had a best friend named Steve. That's it.

"Where did you live before you started traveling?"

"A mountain a few miles north of Snowpoint City. But onl-"

"Did you have any brothers or sisters?" he interrupted.

"No." I answered.

"Really? I have seven bros and one sis. But they already evolved...," he mumbled.

"Does that make a big difference?" I asked quickly just to move the subject off of myself.

"Yep. The Treeckos like me have small jobs, like gathering berries. All the evolved Treeckos, which are Grovyles or Sceptiles, do other stuff, like guarding territory or searching for the next good settling place. Cool jobs. And I'm stuck up in a tree gathering fruit," he muttered.

"So why don't you train some more?" I asked.

"Believe me, I do. Every chance I get! But it's still not enough. Even though I'm the youngest of my siblings, I've been the slowest to evolve," he replied with a sullen look on his face. I hesitated before asking somethig else. Bad choice. Kevin restarted his ask -half finished answer- ask routine, and I just tried to keep up. These questions were now about flying. How fast I could go, how high, If I ever saw any bird Pokémon, and a lot more.

On the other hand, all the talking made the time pass very quickly. Soon enough, we made it to a small clearing with a huge wall of bushes.

"Ok, this is where you should stay for a minute. It's right outside the inner guard lines, so don't go past that hedge! I'll be right back!" Kevin said while jumping through the shrubs. I had no idea what I was supposed to do while I waited. I looked around the clearing, noticing the berry trees Kevin had mentioned. Nothing particularly interesting there. So I sat down and leaned against a tree because the effects of that Nomel berry had begun to wear off, leaving me exhausted. I may have been dozing, because when Kevin returned and woke me up, the sun had started setting.

"Time to go!" he said as he pulled me to my feet. "And don't worry about the guards, they won't hurt you or anything."

We walked through the hedge. Well, technically, we climbed through the hedge, and ended up in a forest that was slightly less dense than the one outside the little clearing. After a few moments, two figures appeared in front of us and continued on.

"Those are the guards," Kevin informed me. "That one on the left is my brother!"

His brother remained unresponsive. Kevin frowned, sighed, and muttered, "He's Dominic, the oldest." I nodded. We walked on in silence for about an hour. It was the quietest Kevin had been so far. I occasionally glanced down to see his expression. It had stayed pretty much unhappy since the silent brother incident. But when the trees thinned out almost entirely, he put a smile back on and whispered up to me, "We're heeeere!" With an extra syllable on here.

"Uh, do I just walk out or...?" I asked.

"Nah, the Chief is coming over. See? He's the one with the purple stripes!" Yes, this Chief was a Sceptile with little purple markings on his arms and face. Which turned out to be squished berry juice, not tattoos.

"So. This is your new friend you mentioned?" asked the Chief. .

"Yes, this is Keira," Kevin said all formally.

"Nice to meet you," the Chief said and put his hand out to shake. I did so, and

mid-shake, he said, "I'm the Chief, but just call me Chief." I didn't know If that was a joke or If he was being serious. Apparently it wasn't, because he then turned around and motioned for us to follow. I hesitated again. Had Kevin already told him about my... Difference?

No. Because then he ran up to Chief and whispered something in his ear. His expression changed and he said, "Oh? And what would that be?" Kevin turned to me.

I sighed. Everyone who had watched the guards lead Kevin and me in was staring at me. Closing my eyes and hoping for the best, I spread my wings again. Gasps met my ears. No screams. Good start. I looked up toward Chief. He didn't seem too startled.

"That's not as bad as I would have assumed. Come now, no problems here," said Chief and continued on. I followed gingerly because every eye was still following me, except for Kevin's and Chief's.

When we finally reached the point where we stopped walking, the big tree, Chief turned his head and asked, "Do you climb?"

"Yes," I replied. He nodded. They both began scaling the tree trunk with ease. I, on the other hand, had to find footholds and places to grab on. I remembered that they were Grass type, this kind of thing came naturally to them, not to feel bad that they were in the upper branches before I had made it halfway up the trunk.

Kevin looked down to see If I was having trouble and opened his mouth to suggest something, but then decided against it. I knew he was going to tell me to fly. But that wouldn't go over well with the others.

Eventually I made it to where they were. "Good. Now where should we put you for sleeping quarters...," mumbled Chief. I looked around again, noticing that each branch had a series of little nooks, each different sizes. So they sleep in these trees, I thought. And that thought was followed by a Duh, of course they sleep in trees.

"Couldn't she just sleep in my tree, with the other Treeckos? I'm sure they won't mind," Kevin suggested.

"But their parents might," Chief reminded Kevin.

"Oh. Yeah," he said sadly. I didn't want this argument about where I would sleep to go on any longer. It really didn't matter that much, and I was seriously tired.

"Um, I could just sleep on the ground," I suggested. They looked at me like I had just asked If I could set my tail on fire.

"No, no, that's unacceptable! There are plenty of hospitable trees here," Chief objected. Kevin agreed and I sighed.

"Why don't I borrow one of those smaller trees out on the border? It would probably make the rest of your... Er... People feel safer," I said. The two looked at each other, and then agreed on it.

Relieved, I said,"Alright. Which one is ok?"

Chief pointed to a medium sized tree, "That one is good." I nodded.

"Ok! It's way past my bedtime now, so I have to go now! Good night, see ya tomorrow!" Kevin declared happily and scurried down the tree. I said the same to Kevin and then to Chief, only in a more formal way, and made my way down again. I took my time getting to my tree. Instead of climbing more, I went behind it. When no one was looking, I hopped up and landed on a branch. I no longer cared If they saw me, I just wanted rest. And in a matter of moments, I had fallen into another dreamless slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sorry for the late posting, I kind of got sidetracked with other stuff. And forgot I didn't post this yet. Ehehe… Anyway, this may be one of the longest chapters so far. Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Part One

The wind rustled through the trees' leaves as I slept. But I didn't sleep long. I was awakened by hostile thoughts, as I had trained myself to do long ago. The evil energy is what awakened me. It startled me into consciousness, and I fell off my branch face-first into the ground. I got up immediately and located the source of the thoughts. The Hunters. How had they found me?

I sifted through their minds until I found one who was thinking about how they had gotten here. They had searched the area over again, found the dirt I had shaken off after getting out of that hole, and it had had some hair stuck in it. Some new technology of theirs had tracked me here. Shoot! I thought. Not only do I have to escape, I've got to destroy that thing too! I deliberated on whether waiting it out in my tree or If a direct confrontation was better. I chose my tree, since I would have a better chance of escape If they had less visibility of me. Soon they emerged from the forest and headed towards the tree. The techno-geek was holding a device that I assumed was the tracking thing.

While they got closer, I tensed my body for flight and attack. I didn't risk charging an Aura Sphere yet, the light would attract their attention. They stood in a little cluster at the bottom of the tree. They fought over who should go up. I used this time to formulate a plan: Destroy, stun, escape. Good enough.

I formed a small Aura Sphere and thrust it towards the humans. The Hunters looked at it stupidly as it spiraled towards the tracking machine. Well, it exploded. Some Hunters were shot backwards, some stood the blast, others hit my tree. Or what was left of it; it had been blown to splinters. Phase two complete. I had spread my wings and jumped before it had blown up, and the force of the explosion had shot me way up high. I was then on my guard, keeping my mind open to thoughts. Many minds of Pokémon had been brought back from dreamland by the explosion, and were looking for the cause.

I angled myself over to go to the forest again, hoping to hide from the humans. I felt bad for destroying that tree. The Chief had offered me hospitality and I had brought humans AND killed a tree. Aren't I just wonderful?

Then I found a familiar mind. Kevin. He was worried about me. I don't know how he remembered which tree I was in, but he had. He looked around in panic, but I was flying above smoke now. I closed my mind again, unable to control the flow of emotions. I glided away from my destruction and into the trees. They had given me a place to stay, no matter how reproachful they had been about it, and I repay them with BOOM! fire and crazy evil humans. Stop thinking like that! I told myself. It was either that or get caught! But then I started thinking If being caught would have been a better choice, so I blocked everything else out again and focused on flying.

I landed, I don't know how much later, somewhere tired and exhausted. I didn't even look for a good sleeping spot, I stayed right where I was. On the brink of dreams, I felt a presence coming near me. I rolled over cautiously to see a Treecko stumbling towards me with dark circles under his eyes.

"Keira? Are you ok?" Kevin asked.

"Yes... How did you get here?" I mumbled.

"Followed you," he replied. And then he collapsed a few feet away from me. I was too tired to check on him. Instead, I looked at his aura. It was all there, he was just tuckered out, poor little guy. He had followed me all the way here on foot. But I didn't have enough energy to think any more, I slept immediately after checking Kevin. And this time, I dreamed of trees, explosions, and for some unknown reason, cheese. Mmm, cheese.

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My head was pounding that morning. It was almost impossible for me to sit up, the headache was dizzying. I knew it must have been from not eating. The only thing I'd had in a week was that Nomel berry Kevin had given me. I stood up, steadied myself against a tree, and began a short search for food.

I couldn't climb or fly, too famished, so I had to look up into the leaves and hope for berries or apples. Eventually, I came upon an apple tree. The fruit was tiny, the size of my fist, but it would have to do. Then I had a problem: How am I supposed to get the food If I can't jump or anything? There weren't any rocks to throw and break off the branches, only sticks and leaves. I turned to my last resort, which was using moves. I concentrated hard. My headache was in the way but it wouldn't stop me, I was too hungry. Using Psychic, I pulled four apples down and almost fainted. Stupid no-food attack.

I picked them up and made my way back to Kevin, who was still sleeping. I didn't wake him up. I ate two of the apples and left the others for him. Man, that headache was torture! But it went away after that second apple.

"Oh...," muttered Kevin.

"You awake yet?" I asked.

"Am now. Are those apples?" he perked up a little.

"Mmm-hmm. Help yourself."

Kevin was hungry. REALLY hungry. He ate both apples in less than two minutes, core and all. Then he asked for my cores. I didn't know If this was normal for Grass-types. Eating cores, I mean. But I gave them to him anyway, and he sheared through them.

"I'm full." I nodded. Then he realized something. "Keira, what happened last night?" he questioned. I sighed. Should I tell him? I wondered. Well, he was already here, and by the look of his expression, he was intent on getting the answer.

"What do you mean?" I inquired back. Playing stupid was another of my bad ideas.

"The explosion. And the humans," he stated. "Tell me."

"Oh. Listen Kevin, I think you ought to go back home. Tell everybody I'm sorry for what happened, and that I won't come back. Tell them I left."

"But why?" he pouted.

"It's my business. I have to take care of it by myself." Unless I already had, with that explosion...

"If you told me, it will be easier for my community to forgive you. I could tell them what happened and get it all cleared up," he declared. He had me there. I couldn't think of a way to get out of this one. Kevin looked me straight into the eye and said, "Pleeeease?"

No. I wouldn't tell him. Couldn't. He might get caught up in this mess, or get hurt, or worse... But If I didn't, he would still be in trouble. I hate my reasoning.

I sighed again. "Fine," I grumbled. "The humans are what others call Hunters. Not many know who they are because they work in secrecy. If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I'd be back in the mountains, maybe near my family...," I trailed off. Kevin looked at me with wide eyes.

"So the Hunters made you leave your family?" he asked.

"Yes. A Lucario stays with its family until it masters Aura. I was working on it. There was one week left, the week I was supposed to take the test to show I was ready to leave on my own, when I was found. A dumb human, one who was money-hungry, saw me training on the mountain peak. He immediately ran down to town and told the Press. But the news writers didn't believe him and stuck the story in the Regional Enquirer.

"However, my luck ran out after that. The Hunters ate up the story and sent teams out around the mountain trying to find me. As they got closer to my family's cave, I realized something. If they found me, they would find my parents too. And they wouldn't blink an eye before taking rare Pokémon. So I left. I flew out of the cave in broad daylight so every troop saw me and reported back. My family wasn't happy, but at least they were free."

"You just... Left?" Kevin said. I nodded. "Why didn't they go look for you?"

"I'm sure they did, but I had flown so far away they could never be able to get to me again. I think I went over an ocean too."

"Wow," Kevin said, eyes wide in thought. "So what do the Hunters do?"

"I don't exactly know. From everything I've picked up, they pursue rare or special Pokémon and capture them. These Pokémon are taken to a hideout, and I don't know the rest," I explained. He nodded.

We were silent after that. Both of us in our own little worlds of thought and memories...

Chapter Four: Part Two

I had totally forgotten that I was supposed to send Kevin home. Talking about my past had brought back many memories. Teaching myself to fly, Aura training, my family... Everything I had made myself forget while flying away from home. I could never return, so why dwell in the past?

Kevin was sitting next to me, pondering about something too. We stayed locked in our own minds for a while. Then he stood up and announced, "Well, I'm gonna go train."

"What?" I said. I was still going through memories.

"I want to train up some more."

"Oh. K." I mumbled, remembering the piece of chocolate I found once.

He wandered off into the woods a few yards. Then I heard scratching noises and grunts. Confused, I got up and went over to where he had stopped. Kevin was attacking a tree. Poor tree, I thought.

He had scratched it up. That's all. No wonder he hadn't evolved.

"Um, do you want some help?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm trying to learn Giga Drain," Kevin said with excitement.

"Oh. So you scratched the tree up for what reason...?" I said.

"I don't want to just kill a tree. If its already dying, it won't mind losing the rest of its energy," he said.

Right. And slashing it to the point of death is much better than killing it straightforwardly.

I watched as Kevin closed his eyes and focused on the tree. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Nothing.

"Dang!" he shouted.

"Really, Kevin, I could help you with this. It's like absorbing aura, kinda," I said.

"Ok. So what do I do?" he looked up at me.

"First, close your eyes and focus on your target," I said. He did so. I checked his mind to see If he was really focusing. Nope, he was thinking about berries.

"Focus hard, Kevin," I reminded him. His eyes closed tighter.

"Good. Now, imagine the energy flow in the... Dying... Tree," I commanded. I looked into his mind and saw that he thought the tree was full of juice. Juice? How is that a source of energy?

"Um... How about imagining little green spots of light in the tree instead of, er, juice?" I asked.

"How did you know I was thinking juice?" he said, losing his concentration.

"I can read minds, emotions, aura, that kind of stuff," I explained.

"Cool! What am I thinking-" he started.

"Giga Drain, we are teaching you Giga Drain," I reminded him again.

"Right." Kevin shut his eyes and imagined the tree full of green luminous spots. "Now what?"

"Bring your hands up and point them toward that energy," I said. He did so. I had purposely told him the actual appearance of plant energy so it would be easier for him to control it.

"Now pull some towards you," I said.

He furrowed his brow and stiffened. The tree's energy didn't budge. "C'mon, really make it go to you!" I shouted.

"I'm trying, Keira!" he shouted back.

"Harder!"

Kevin grunted. I looked at the mutilated plant and saw that the green spots were moving out. Slowly, but surely. I stayed silent. Interrupting him would be the worst thing I could do now.

As the spots moved closer, he lost more concentration. He gritted his teeth and got back on track. This little guy has determination, I thought in awe.

And then he received the energy. He opened his eyes and jumped. Yeah, I guess that could surprise you. Green spots hurling themselves at you, I mean. But after all the energy had gone into Kevin he hopped up again. "Woohoo! I feel GREAT!" he ran a lap around the now completely dead tree. "That's awesome! Energy-draining is really cool!" he shouted.

"You never learned Absorb or Mega Drain?" I wondered.

"No, I never thought I could do it. Everyone told me it was too complicated, so I didn't try," he told me.

Then I heard a crash. I turned toward the sound. A figure was moving toward us through the woods. It looked... Sort of human, but then it had a tail...

"Stay back," I whispered to Kevin.

"No, Keira, I think that's-," he replied, but was interrupted.

"Hello, Kevin. And this must be Keira?" he pointed to me.

"Yeah. What are you doing here, Steve?" said Kevin.

"Oh, you know, just on a stroll... To catch this traitor!" he said and shot me a dirty look.

"What?!" I yelled.

"You killed a tree! With fire! AND you brought humans! HUMANS in our safe haven!" he accused me.

"That wasn't her fault! They chased her there! She was jus-" Kevin began, but was cut off again by his former friend.

"And YOU!" Steve pointed to him. "You brought her! If she was being followed, why did you take her to us?" he bellowed.

"He didn't know! I didn't tell him until now!" I defended. This guy was getting on my nerves with his accusations.

"So you think you can just walk into our place and mess it up?" he sneered.

"I'll just take care of you, then. An eye for an eye, they say." Steve walked toward me. Hello? Eye for an eye? All I did was blow up a tree. Trees don't have souls. I think. And he had forgotten my wings, too. I could tell this guy wasn't what you would call 'smart' or 'logical'.

Well, Steve started up a Leaf Blade with his wrist leaves all shiny. But Kevin yelled, "Stop it!" and tackled Steve, and they both hit the ground.

"Get off me!" he roared and threw Kevin off into the withered training tree. Dust came up from the crumpled bark.

"No!" I yelled. But then Kevin got right back up. His eyes were burning with rage. Steve seemed amused.

"What's a little Treecko like you gonna do? Scratch me?"

Kevin, obviously peeved, slammed into the Grovyle with all his strength. Steve was pushed back by the attack and broke a tree, kept going, hit another, and stopped. Ok, I thought, Kevin can use Slam. Steve groaned. Kevin smirked.

"No, I'll just smack you into a tree or two," Kevin retorted. Steve got up and limp-ran back the way he came, cursing with every limp. I laughed. Wow, that guy was a wimp.

Then Kevin started glowing. He was enveloped by a white sheen, and I had to close my eyes. I felt energy flowing out of his body. Then the light vanished and Kevin gasped.

"What the heck?! I just evolved!" he shouted. Yep, he was a Grovyle now. "Haha, awesome! I didn't know that you evolve when you kick your evil best friend's butt!"

"Great! Haha, what a news flash!" I said.

"So where is the high and mighty Steve running off to?"

"Well, now he thinks we worked together to destroy your home, and he is going to tell that to everyone. Wonderful," I replied. Steve and his stupid accusations...

"So I guess I can't go back home any time soon," Kevin muttered, but I could see he was happy. Why wasn't he remorseful? I couldn't tell. "And they are probably going to send out search parties to get rid of us."

"Even better. Hunters AND Grovyle mercenaries. Maybe we should get out of this forest," I suggested.

"Agreed. But where do we go? I've never been out of these woods," Kevin informed me.

"I don't know. We'll probably have to ask around, after we leave this territory," I said.

"Ok. Then we should probably get started, since the outer guard lines end in about ten miles." Kevin said. I groaned. And so we started our trek away from his home, and the place I called home for less than seven hours. Little did I know that our little fugitive alliance would be the median between life and death for the entire universe. Isn't that just pleasant? Uh, no. No it's not.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Kevin was obviously enjoying his new form. He was jumping from tree to tree as fast as he possibly could, which left me lightly gliding over the ground just to keep up. I decided not to fly above, just in case Steve had stuck guards into the trees to keep an eye out for me.

A few hours into the run, he stopped in the trees and yelled, "Keira! Wait!" I jolted to a stop, almost going into a tumble.

"What is it?" I asked cautiously.

"Look," he said and pointed over to a tree limb with two vines hanging off it. No, wait... Those looked like... Legs? "There's guards stationed here... But why so close?" Kevin muttered.

"Does that mean we could have passed by other guards already?" I questioned.

"I think so. We need to be more careful," he said. I nodded.

Since the Grovyle was in front of us, we took a right and moved forward as stealthily as possible. Kevin stayed on the ground so he wouldn't alert any guards in the trees to his presence.

The guards weren't hidden very well. They just sat on tree limbs and waited. Nice.

And then we came to a clearing. We were going to double back a few steps, but then I saw another Grovyle sitting behind and above us. How he hadn't seen us yet I will never know, but I elbowed Kevin in the side and pointed up. He nearly gasped but I put a paw over my mouth to signal silence.

Well, we were kind of stuck there. Everywhere we could possibly move would draw somebody's attention. But then Kevin saw a tiny river ahead of the clearing, and his eyes lit up. He couldn't speak so I listened in to his mind. Invasion of privacy, I know, but I didn't really have another option that wouldn't cause a commotion.

'That's the river! That's where the outer guard line is! If we can get across it, we'll be able to get far enough away to be free of them. But how do I tell Keira..,' he was thinking. He turned his face to me, and I nodded. First, he was confused, but then remembered I could read minds.

'Should we just run through? I can't think of any other way,' he thought. I nodded again.

I went into a crouch so I would get a quicker start. Kevin copied me. But he pushed one of his feet back onto a branch, and it snapped. Then the stupid guard above us finally looked down and yelled, "Hey! Who are you?!"

And we pushed off, only we weren't quick enough, and every guard in the area jumped in front of us. Seriously, how do these Pokémon move so fast?

"Stop there, you!" roared one of the Grovyles before us. We didn't really have another option, they had guards waiting in the trees too.

"Are those the traitors..?" muttered others around us.

"Yes. That would be them." Oh, please, not again. I turned to that repulsive voice, only to find the face of Steve.

"Ok, you two, just come with us without any trouble, and nobody will have to fight," declared Steve, but he obviously wanted to fight. He wanted revenge. Great.

"Keira, this might be our last chance to explain everything," Kevin whispered.

"Yes. Should I or you?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'll try first," he mumbled and lifted his head to look at the guards surrounding us.

"Hey, um, we didn't get a chance to explain to Steve earlier," he said.

"That's because there isn't anything to explain! You brought humans to the Tree, and that's unforgivable!" Steve roared.

"Listen, that was an accident! She didn't mean to! They followed her!" Kevin explained.

"Right, we are supposed to believe you. We can't trust you anymore, kid," Steve replied casually. Kevin was getting angry.

"Steve, just shut up-" he started.

"Kevin, don't push us. We have you outnumbered, and can just as easily make you give in as take you with no trouble," Steve said.

I knew that Kevin didn't really like violence, and neither did I, but he had been pushed over the limit. He was too angry, and he leaped at Steve.

The other Grovyles didn't take too kindly to Kevin's action. Two of the guards jumped at him to counter. However, they had forgotten I was there, and I tackled them mid-attack. Steve wasn't anticipating that. He turned around and started running, but Kevin had already crashed into him, and they tumbled out of the clearing.

Meanwhile, I got up and moved away from the two I had just tackled. I looked around, counting the guards. Ok, ten Grovyles against me. No pressure. I got this.

I think.

As Kevin's attempted attackers got up, I coated my paws with aura and got ready to fight. I was waiting for the two I had tackled to pounce again, and that's why I didn't notice the guard on my right using Slam. I was hurled into the air and into a tree. I pushed off the tree, did a flip in the air, and kicked my attacker in the gut.

One down, nine to go.

I was then rushed by three guards at once. They circled around me, unsure of who would attack first. I wanted to try something, just to see If it would work. I backed up a little and stretched my wings so they would go into the two guards' faces behind me. They gasped and fell down. Uh, yeah, these guys were wimps.

I decided to go ahead and get rid of the one in front of me, so I shot an Aura Sphere at him. It wasn't even a big one and it made that guard fly back into a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. I turned around to face the other two, who were still on the ground. They were close enough to me that I could use a single move to hit both, so I crouched down low and used Dark Pulse. It hit them hard enough to throw them back into two other Grovyles.

Six left. Hey, I wasn't doing too bad. Except I wasn't expecting what happened next.

Kevin and Steve burst through the trees again, knocking down another guard or two. Kevin was trying to pin him to the ground, but Steve kicked him off and over into another guard who was standing by. This whole thing was way too confusing now: two Grovyles fighting each other and trampling over other Grovyles, which I can't tell apart from Steve and Kevin, so I'm afraid to attack any other Pokémon because it might be Kevin. And then, while I'm trying to find out which Grovyle is which, I get attacked by a different guard who hasn't been run over yet. Well, that is what caused me to make my next decision: take to the skies!

Yes, I jumped up and started hovering above the tussle, which prevented my getting attacked. Then an idea dawned on me. If I couldn't tell them apart by appearance, maybe by thoughts instead... It wouldn't hurt to try.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the conflicting flow of thoughts below me. Flapping my wings was sort of second nature to me, thinking of something else didn't make me stop. When I actually heard the different thoughts, it wasn't too hard to tell the difference. The guards were trying to find me and escape Kevin and Steve's battle. Steve was trying to knock the snot out of Kevin (his words, not mine). Kevin, however, had already lost his anger, and just wanted to finish the fight. He wasn't a grudge-holder, I guess.

Well, I began singling out minds and locking on to them, finding their aura in the mixture, and shooting an Aura Sphere their way. It wasn't easy, I can tell you that. I missed a few times, only to hit a different guard. Eventually I knocked them all out, but Kevin and Steve hadn't noticed.

"You told everyone lies just to get back at me!" shouted Kevin.

"You shouldn't have gotten in my way!" Steve roared back. He slugged Kevin in the gut. He lost his breath and doubled over on his knees.

"Time to end this!" Steve snarled and began a Leaf Blade.

"Oh no it isn't," I growled, and went into a nosedive, heading straight for Steve. A few seconds from impact, I turned it into an Aerial Ace, and my wings started glowing. He noticed the sudden shine and looked up. Too late!

WHAM!

I slammed him in the chest, and he was hurled back, rolled over on the ground a couple times, and smacked into a tree. He wasn't conscious anymore.

"Oof...," a pained voice groaned.

"Kevin, are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm fine," I said.

"Ok. We should go before somebody sees what happened."

"Right." I helped him to his feet, and we ran across the river to safety. Well, temporary safety.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

We ran in silence. I didn't know why Kevin was so quiet, and I wasn't about to read his mind again. He had a sullen look on his face like he had when his brother didn't speak to him on the way to his home.

I had been trying to find another Pokémon from the area to ask for directions. Apparently, there weren't very many here that were our size, because every time we were near somebody they would immediately run for cover. Or they would see my wings and think I was some kind of mutant or human in disguise.

Eventually we reached a place where there was a yellow tinge of color beyond the trees. I had no idea what it was until we were in it. Kevin stopped when I did.

"What... Is this a... Plain?" he muttered.

"Yeah," I said. We were surrounded by tall yellow grass. And this plain wasn't flat, it had hills that were so tall you couldn't see over them. I climbed up one with Kevin behind me. This hill wasn't very high, but it still had an enormous view. The forest to our backs stretched on horizontally, and the plain started wherever the edge of the forest was. I looked ahead, and saw a tiny green line. Another forest. Just like the one we just left, it continued on from left to right.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. There weren't any Pokémon in the woods that would speak to us, they all freaked out," I replied.

"Oh. Maybe we shouldn't have been running so hard," he said. I nodded.

A few moments later he turned around to face the forest behind us. "Some of those guards there, that we fought. Some of them were my brothers. They don't like me anymore," he mumbled.

"It's not your fault, they just don't know the truth."

"No, they would have listened to me before and pulled back, or told Steve to be quiet. They're convinced already. And Steve. He wasn't like this before... I don't know what happened to him, he used to be so much fun...," he trailed off.

"He... He was mad that you beat him earlier. And he probably got taunted about it too. That he got creamed by a Treecko, I mean," I consoled him, and I turned to see a small grin coming onto his face.

"Yeah." He sighed.

"C'mon, we need to get to that other forest. Staying here won't be safe. And the sun could be going down any minute now."

"Alright."

We took off again, this time in a much better mood. He had lost his frown and was his usual self again. But soon after we topped our third hill, I felt auras somewhere in front of us.

"Somebody is here. I'm not sure where, but they're in front of us," I told Kevin.

"Ok. And I hear them too," he declared. There was a fight or something going on behind the hill in front of us. As we ran up, the noise grew. And then we found a very unfair battle.

It was a Luxio defending himself against two Machokes. The two burly Fighting-types were Pokémon of the two Trainers clad in black. As soon as one attacked, it would jump back to let the other have a go at the poor Luxio, and then switch places again. He couldn't get an attack in, and wouldn't be able to take much more.

"Should we help?" I asked.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Kevin shouted, and ran down the hill. He's totally back to normal, I thought. As he ran, the two humans looked up in surprise. The first, who was about a head shorter than the other, shouted a command to one of the Machokes. It roared and ran at Kevin, holding its fist back to ready an attack. Kevin was too fast, and jumped up as it swung. He landed behind it and used a quick Leaf Blade into its back.

Now that I was sure my friend could hold his own, I sprinted down the hill at the other Machoke. The tall human shouted, "Focus Punch!" And it pulled back a fist and waited. Too easy. I tossed a little Aura Sphere at it, knocking him back into its commanding human.

I looked back at Kevin, who now had the Machoke in a head lock.

"Uh... Why?" I whispered.

"Why not?" he replied. I shrugged and looked toward the Trainer who was still standing. He had fear in his eyes.

"Machoke, return!" he howled, drawing his beaten Pokémon into its Poké Ball, and ran in the opposite direction. The taller human, however, had helped his up and commanded it to use Vital Throw. It sprinted at me, fist glowing again, so I jumped up and started hovering. Except I forgot that Vital Throw never misses, and the Machoke leaped higher into the air than I thought possible and slugged me, at an angle, in the stomach. I lost my breath and crashed to the ground. Stupid Fighting moves...

The Trainer bellowed a laugh when I hit the floor. Oh, a brave one, is he? I got up again and snarled. His glee went away. I searched for my attacker, found him a few feet away, and took to the sky again. Then I waited.

"Machoke, Vital Throw!" the human repeated, just as I knew he would. The burly fighter pushed off the ground toward me, hoping to get another hit. So not going to happen.

Just seconds before it made contact, I jerked my wings forward and used Air Slash. It countered Vital Throw, hurled it back to the Trainer, and knocked them both to the floor. If it was possible to do a victory dance while defying gravity, I probably would have.

As the Trainer returned the Machoke and scampered away, I landed next to Kevin.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Doing wonderful. We better check on him," he said and pointed at the Luxio. We walked over to him, but he still didn't move. "Uh... Hello?" Kevin mumbled. A small noise came from the fallen Pokémon. A groan, maybe?

"What?"

"Hurgh... Awf. Man, that hurts...," he mumbled.

"Er, are you ok?" I asked.

"Not really. Ow, don't stand up..," he continued. "Stupid grunts..."

Grunts? But they only had those in...

"Were those, by chance, some of the Hunters?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Won't leave me alone, stinkin' humans- Hold on, how do you know who the Hunters are?" He looked up at me.

"Well, I guess I'm like you." I spread my wings for him to see. Stare, actually. Which he did for about thirty consecutive seconds.

"Wait... How.. Who..," he trailed off. Then regained his train of thought, and began talking again. "So there are others. I never believed that."

"Me either. You are the first one like me that I have ever met. You are like me, right?"

"Yes. See my mane? And tail, and right above my paws." He moved as he spoke, showing me each part of his mixed body. His mane had red streaks running through it, which I had thought of as blood before. Total relief there. His tail had the same red stripes, and the star-shaped tip was of an orange tinge instead of the usual yellow. And one of the two lines, which were normally both yellow, over the back of his paws had turned to a shade of red that was darker than the ones in his fur.

I'm not the only one, I thought deliriously. There are more of my kind. Well, more beings who have special talents and traits, I guess. But still.

I was more excited by this news than I had ever been in just about my whole life. However, I kept talking, only in a daze. "You can use Fire moves, then?"

"Yes. Just as you can use Flying moves."

"Of course." As I said this, I looked around to find Kevin. He was standing a few feet behind me to the right, and he was fiddling around with a long piece of grass. Then he looked up, glanced at the Luxio, and scanned the horizon.

"Hey, where is your pack?" he asked the Luxio.

"Oh... Well. When I discovered my talent, I tried to keep it hidden, but to no avail. I was found by Hunters, and my pack voted to exile me to protect themselves. This happened right after I became a Luxio, when we can defend ourselves more easily. So I have been alone for quite some time."

"Ah. So... Basically, you're a fugitive?" he asked.

"Um, yes, I guess," replied the Luxio.

"Cool! You could come with us! We're fugitives too!" Kevin declared. I rolled my eyes. Just tell the whole world, why dontcha?

"Hmm... Fighting Hunters would be easier in a group. Sounds good. Would you mind If I join?" He looked to me.

"That's fine. We have plenty of room here," I said.

"Great! And by the way, my name is Chase."

"Nice to meet you! Oh, look, the sunset... Wait, we need to get moving again then! Let's go!" Kevin yelled and we headed off to what I hoped was the right direction.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Sorry about the late update. I just got back from a vacation, and school just started again (bleah!). And now I have writer's block, which is just dandy. So, I might not update for a while. Sorry!

Chapter Seven

The sunset faded about two hours before we reached the edge of the woods. Kevin, who was very uncomfortable away from trees, had repeatedly rushed us, but we hadn't moved any faster. Chase was definitely not a runner. Nevertheless, we made it, and that was good enough.

"So. Do we stay here, or keep going?" Chase asked after we had stepped into the forest.

"Keep going," Kevin blurted quickly. He wanted to get as far as possible into the woods. I nodded.

We continued on silently until Kevin stopped. "This'll work," he mumbled, surveying the small area. It wasn't much but a tiny clearing.

"Hmm... Should somebody keep watch?" Chase asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You know, make sure nobody comes along. Since we're fugitives."

"Ah. I guess, that would make it safer," I said.

"I can take first watch. I'm not tired yet," Kevin said and stood up straight. Chase and I nodded. Kevin leaped up and sat on a tree limb, Chase curled up on the ground, and I climbed up into a different tree. It didn't take long for me to drift into the world of dreams...

* * *

I was in the plains again, only I was looking down at it like I was flying. The wind flowed through the grass and created waves, but I couldn't feel it. I didn't feel anything. Then I watched as two figures materialized below me. It was a Hunter and... Me? It was my body without my consciousness in it, but it was still being controlled by something.

They circled each other in silence. My face wore an angry expression, while the human's face was completely masked in shadow. There was something keeping his face hidden, but I couldn't see that either. But then my body stopped moving and seemed to be listening. The Hunter stepped forward, raised his fist, and shook it in the air as If frustrated. My face switched anger for confusion, but then became infuriated again. I lunged forward to attack the Hunter. When my paws were only inches from the human's head, an incredible flash of light enveloped everything in sight. I watched until the light made me close my eyes, and then I couldn't open them again.

Now it was totally dark. Since my eyes were locked shut, I couldn't look to see If it was really just a black hole or something. Before I had a chance to panic, I felt pressure and started falling. There wasn't anything to see or grab on to, and I still didn't have the ability to fly, so I continued on my way down. Suddenly, I heard a voice echoing through the darkness.

"Keira, c-" it began, but then I hit something really hard and felt a terrific electric jolt rush through me.

* * *

"Keira? Are you alright?" a voice asked urgently. My body was sore everywhere. I didn't even feel like opening my eyes, so I looked on at the auras above me.

"Why did you have to shock her!?" a voice I recognized as Kevin's shouted.

"It was an accident! She fell on me, and it was almost dawn and I had just started my watch! I freaked!" Chase retorted.

"Ow... What?" I muttered.

"Keira!" they shouted in unison.

"Yes, that's me."

"Are you ok?" Chase asked again.

"Uh-huh. What happened?" I replied.

"Well... Chase and I had just switched places for watch, and he was walking around to stay awake. He was underneath the branch you were sleeping on, and you fell off right when he had turned around and faced the inside of the clearing. And... He Sparked you," Kevin explained.

"Yeah... Sorry," Chase murmured.

"It's fine. Sorry I fell," I replied. Then I remembered the dream I just had. Only it wasn't the way you usually remember dreams, like you struggle to keep everything in your head and nothing makes sense. This dream I clearly recalled, and it didn't seem weird. It was almost like a memory.

"Don't sweat it," Chase said. I opened my eyes to see Kevin barely awake and Chase looking at him. "Uh... You should probably go back to sleep now. You've been up all night."

"Yeah... Thanks...," he trailed off and sluggishly climbed up another tree. I sat up.

"You should go sleep too. I haven't been up 'til now, and I'm not tired anymore," I told Chase.

"You sure? I'm fine." That Luxio was nowhere near fine. I could see plainly that he was almost begging to take a nap.

"Yep. Go on."

He curled up again on the floor and was snoring in seconds. I sighed and walked over to the middle of the clearing. As I sat down, my mind wandered back to my dream.

It had been so short and pointless. I had never seen a Hunter like that, never one-on-one, and I could always see their faces. I hadn't even been in my own body. And the random flash of light that came when I came near it's head didn't make any sense either. But I still had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that this wasn't just a dream. It couldn't be a memory; I had never been in a plain until yesterday. And Lucarios seeing the future was just unheard of, so the final resolution on that dream became I was just tired, though I knew it was still something more. And that voice.... I know I had heard it somewhere before. Where I had heard it, however, I couldn't remember. I shook it out of my head and concentrated on guarding our resting place.

An hour or two later, I heard Chase stir. He got up, stretched, and turned to me.

"Is it my turn now?" he asked.

"Nah. The sun's already up, we should get going."

"Right. What about Kevin?" he nodded his head at the tree that had snoring coming from it.

"We should get him up too." I said. Chase sighed and walked the few feet over to the Snore Tree.

"Hey, time to get up."

Kevin wasn't ready to get up. Instead, he muttered, "Apples... Don't want... Lamp..."

"C'mon, Sleeping Beauty, wake up," Chase said louder. No response except snores. He shook his head and put a paw on the tree.

"Wake up or I'll knock you out of the tree !" Chase shouted upwards.

"I... Think... Tea..."

I was snickering now. Chase pushed against the tree a few times and then I heard a THUMP!

"Agh! What?!"

"Told you to get up three times."

"Ya didn't have to knock me down!"

"Would you rather me shock you?"

Kevin didn't answer that. He stood up and said, "Never mind that."

Well, these two were going to get along just fine. As long as I woke them up.


End file.
